Lurching 86 Camry

[John Turuk]

Hi all

My daughters 86 Camry (Engine 2SE, 5 speed manual transmission) has started doing the weirdest thing. In low gear when accellerating from a stop it lurches forward continously until a certain speed is reached. It also does is slightly in second gear. If the gas pedal is released when this lurching is occuring it still does it to a degree but not near as bad. Only by pushing in the clutch pedal can you get it to stop. Also If you get up the RPM quite substantially and let out the clutch pedal quite forcefully it will not do it. This the strangest symtom that I have ever seen in a car. Other than this the car runs great at all speeds and all other gears. Lots of power. Engine runs great.

Anyone ever heard of anything like this??

Stumped in Alberta.

[Brian R.]

Although you didn't say this, is it a bouncing effect, like springs bouncing the car back and forth?

Have you replaced the clutch in the recent past? If not, it may be due for a clutch. There is give in a clutch plate due to the springs between the plate (locked up to the engine) and the transmission shaft splines (locked to the transmission). These springs may be overheated or worn out and giving this effect. I have had cars do this, but not often. Just guessing.

[John Turuk]

Yes Brian that is exactly what its doing the lurching definately has a "bouncing back and forth" effect.

John

[Brian R.]

If the clutch is old, you may consider replacing it. If you have cheaper possibilities from others, consider doing those first. I don't know that the clutch is your problem. Note that I am not talking about the pressure plate. It might also be a good idea to buy the clutch from Toyota, even if you have an independent mechanic install it.

Here is a picture of a clutch plate. Note the 6 coil springs in the center.

http://www.bfranker.badz28.com/fbody/c2657.JPG

From the pistons to the tires, these springs are the only "give" in the drivetrain when the clutch is engaged and the transmission is in gear. In a car with an automatic transmission, the torque converter provides the "give".

[John Turuk]

Hi all

Just thought I would drop you guys a line and let you know what the problem was with this car.

I decided that a clutch replacement was a little beyond the scope of my ability and decided to take it to a mechanic that has worked on this car a few times in the past. It turns out that the problem was a wore out distributor. Why it would only do it in low gear and a bit in second is beyond me but thank god I didn't rip into the clutch and find out $500 later and days of my time that it wasn't the clutch at all.

anyways just thought I'd pass this along.

thanks again for the help

John

[Brian R.]

Good deal. It was the clutch that was bothering you, but the problem was elsewhere.

[animal401]

John or anyone,

I hope you read this, I was about to post about a very similar problem I think. In lower gears when accelerating or decelerating the car is (what I describe as) hesitating very much like a bounce. Has your solution fixed the problem completely? Fairly inexpensive I think? How did the mechanic know the problem (test of some sort)?

[John Turuk]

Animal 401

Yes the symptoms were exactly as you describe. Maybe a little more severe when accelerating. My daughter has been driving the car for about two weeks now and problem has completely disappeared. I don't know how the mechanic arrived at the diagnosis but I think its the shaft and or bushing/bearing within the distributor that wears out and I suspect that if you pulled the distributor cap and tried to move the rotor from side to side you could probably detect some play if the distributor was wore out. The mechanics on this site would be able to tell you better than I. The mechanic did say that a repair kit was not available for this particular car so it was either buy one from Toyota or get a used one from a wrecker. He did the later.

Hope this helps

John